Stewards take no further action against Carlos Sainz and Sergio Perez following their crash on the penultimate lap of the Azerbaijan Formula 1 Grand Prix.

Ferrari driver Sainz and Red Bull’s Perez were battling Charles Leclerc for a podium finish after McLaren’s Oscar Piastri finally took the lead after being chased by the Monaco driver for almost 30 laps.

Perez’s failure to overtake Leclerc for second place on Lap 1 on the penultimate lap of the 51st lap at the Baku Street Circuit allowed Sainz to sneak up on the inside and take third place from the Mexican.

However, Perez managed to overtake Sainz at Turn 2 but when he attempted to overtake on the inside along the straight on the run-in to Turn 3, the pair collided. The impact sent them both crashing into a wall on the left.

After listening to both drivers and reviewing video evidence, the stewards decided that no further action was necessary.

The stewards’ report reads: “The stewards have heard from the driver of car #11 (Sergio Perez), the driver of car #55 (Carlos Sainz), the team representatives and reviewed the navigation/coordination system data, video and in-car video evidence.

“Sainz and Perez collided and crashed shortly after Turn 2 on lap 50. This was a situation where a minor collision could have had significant consequences. The stewards looked at how the incident occurred, not the consequences.

“Sainz had overtaken Perez after turn 1 and was completely ahead at the apex of turn 2. With Sainz’s failed escape, Perez had gone up on the inside of Sainz. Sainz reported that he knew Perez was on the inside of him.

“Perez, who was slightly slower, was in a better position to see the relative positions of the cars. But as the two cars approached the right-hand wall at the exit of Turn 2, they were about 1m apart. From this point and throughout the incident, neither driver drove erratically, and in fact both kept their steering very neutral.

“The stewards examined the drivers’ lines of play in the previous laps. Sainz was on or near his normal track, forming a slight angle to the right-hand wall. From the exit to the point of contact, he travelled approximately one car width further from the wall.

“Perez travelled approximately half a car width further from the same wall, more parallel to the right-hand wall. It is therefore clear that, while in front and entitled to drive his way, Sainz moved slightly towards a car of which he had limited visibility.

“At the same time, there was nothing unusual about Perez’s track, but he could have done more to avoid the car of which he had a better view. In summary, the jury considers this to be a racing accident in which neither driver was primarily at fault and no further action is required.”